StarCraft II continues the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.

Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company's world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game. [ http://us.starcraft2.com/ ]

{ FEATURES }

Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game

Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg

New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race

Groundbreaking single-player campaign

Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes

Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net

Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

I would love to wait in live. Even waiting 6-12 hours is okay with me. But no stores are doing this here...

Maybe for Starcraft 3!

The Beta was great, it absolutely beats the crap out of most new final version games. Hopefully I'll be able to get the game in the first few months. Student in a different city, so I'm kind of short on cash.

I played the beta for a bit, and the graphics are incredible (and a fresh upgrade), as was the music, making the soundtrack in the collector's edition (CE) a nice addition. Then again, all of the soundtracks in Blizzard games' CEs are nice . If you're also a WoW player, an in-game pet is a fun addition. The item in the CE that really sells it for me is the "dog tag" USB stick with the original Starcraft Anthology pre-loaded on it. IMO that's a huge bonus, and sets it apart from all of their previous CEs. You can use it to introduce someone else to Starcraft, or get rid of your physical media that's been in a box for several years.

I played the beta for a bit, and the graphics are incredible (and a fresh upgrade), as was the music, making the soundtrack in the collector's edition (CE) a nice addition. Then again, all of the soundtracks in Blizzard games' CEs are nice . If you're also a WoW player, an in-game pet is a fun addition. The item in the CE that really sells it for me is the "dog tag" USB stick with the original Starcraft Anthology pre-loaded on it. IMO that's a huge bonus, and sets it apart from all of their previous CEs. You can use it to introduce someone else to Starcraft, or get rid of your physical media that's been in a box for several years.

Have blizz said when the Zerg or Protoss expansions/campaigns are meant to follow?

No, but hopefully no more than 1 year between. The base of the game is done and so is the multiplayer part. Also they had planned to release the game(s) as one package, so I would believe the other parts are close to finished also. I can't imagine them using more than that time period between the releases. The expansion for the original Starcraft was released half a year after the original.